Domestic mobile phone marketing strategy
From 1998, China officially entered the production of mobile phones. From 2003 to 2004, it won the prosperity of more than half of the countries, and now it has maintained a market share of around 30%. Domestic mobile phones have mixed feelings along the way. In just a few years, China has become the largest mobile phone user country in the world. In this process, domestic mobile phones encountered setbacks and saw opportunities.
First, the difficulties and problems of domestic mobile phone marketing analysis
(1) Core technology research and development and innovation need to be broken through.
Because China's mobile phones started late, and in this new communication industry, China's communication technology and electronic information technology are still far behind foreign brands, which also makes China rely on purchasing from developed countries to support its production. The independent research and development ability of domestic mobile phones is too weak, and the cost ratio of R&D investment is relatively small, so there is no intention to greatly reduce the profit margin of domestic mobile phones. From the annual report of 200 1, it can be seen that the gross profit margin of TCL is as high as 33.4%, while that of Bird and Kejian is 29% and 13.9% respectively. According to industry experts, whether manufacturers use OEM or do part of their own research and development has a great influence on the level of profit margin. There is an obvious gap between Kejian and the first two brands in profit margin, which is related to market sales, but the main reason is that Kejian mainly relies on OEM, while TCL and Bird try to increase the proportion of independent research and development as much as possible, and the profit space is much larger.
In the electronic information communication industry, the cost of technology research and development must be increased, because technology research and development occupies a considerable profit space of electronic products and is one of the most important profit growth points. In the high-tech field, the only way to survive in the fierce market competition is to stay ahead of others forever, and all this depends on technology. Among Nokia's 55,000 employees worldwide, more than17,000 employees are engaged in technology research and development, reaching 3 1%, and its new product research and development expenditure accounts for 9% of the total turnover. It has also established 44 R&D centers in 65,438+02 countries, including China. However, domestic mobile phones have invested too little in technology development and research, and many manufacturers don't even have their own R&D institutions. They directly adopt OEM production and operate by buying technology from other manufacturers. How long can such a manufacturer exist without technical obstacles? The research and development of mobile phone is divided into three parts, of which the most important part is the development of core module. Experts estimate that it can account for 80% or even more than 90% of the cost of mobile phones. Domestic manufacturers independently design some modules, and this part of the investment accounts for about 10% of the cost, which is almost the only thing that can increase profits. It can be seen that the development of high technology has a considerable impact on the profit of mobile phones.
Another direct consequence of technical failure is inevitably the quality problem. According to the statistics of relevant departments, the average repair rate of domestic brands is about 2 times or more than that of foreign brands. In the face of high repair rate, domestic mobile phones are not backed by strong after-sales service, which will have a great impact on consumers' confidence and lose their due loyal users, thus greatly reducing their market share.
(2) The low-end market fell.
Due to the advantages of domestic mobile phone localization marketing channels, it has been occupying the vast majority of the low-end market. The low-end market has low technical requirements and small profit margin, which determines that it mainly relies on marketing channels to make profits, which coincides with the situation of domestic mobile phones. Since 2006, major international mobile phone brands have integrated their own marketing channels, increased the development of low-end mobile phones, and launched a large number of models below 1,000 yuan, but this market that has been occupied by domestic mobile phones has been broken. According to CCID Consulting's statistics, Nokia and Motorola alone account for 57% of the 500-700 yuan mobile phone market and 70% of the mobile phone market below 500 yuan [①].
The fall of the low-end market is an important reason for the current predicament of domestic mobile phones, just as the core competitiveness of a product is gradually being challenged or even lost. The strong entry of foreign brands has caused a serious impact on the product range of domestic mobile phones, and the living space of domestic mobile phones has been greatly compressed again. From bubble net, Zhongguancun and other domestic websites, we can see that Nokia's 1 100 and165438 are the earliest two low-end mobile phones in China. Although the profit of low-end mobile phones is small, its market is bright and can meet the needs of more people. Relevant market survey data show that at present, low-grade mobile phones account for more than half of the market share in all levels of mobile phone sales. Judging from the styles and types of mobile phones, domestic mobile phones never lag behind foreign brands, but they are also low-end mobile phones. Many consumers prefer to buy foreign brands because of their good quality and good after-sales service. Although domestic brands have high cost performance, most domestic brands are far from international brands such as Nokia in brand awareness.
(C) improper sales methods-TV direct selling
Judging from the development of domestic mobile phones, the market share of domestic mobile phones reached its peak in 2003 and began to decline in 2004. During this period, an important reason affecting it is that domestic mobile phones have adopted an inappropriate sales method-TV direct sales.
Compared with foreign brands, the market share of domestic mobile phones in TV direct sales really accounts for half of the country, which is very similar to the market share of domestic mobile phones that occupied nearly 60% through channel innovation in 2003. However, since 2004, the share of domestic mobile phones began to decline, and it can only be maintained at around 30% under the massive attack of foreign brands. At that time, the rise of domestic mobile phones mainly depended on the innovation of marketing channels, but it was still weak in technology and manufacturing. Because the sales volume was fast and large at that time, some enterprises sought Korean and China Taiwan Province Province to design and manufacture them to meet the market demand. However, it only depends on OEM sales, which greatly reduces the quality of products. Repair rate, once as high as 40% to 60%, has greatly shaken the confidence of consumers. However, the manufacturers who rely on TV direct sales only make quick money for a while, but lose their brand image and a large number of potential consumers. In this case, foreign brands have poached a large number of consumers from domestic mobile phones by virtue of the high quality of their products. Domestic mobile phones are not worth the loss.
(D) the domestic market "black mobile phone" rampant
According to relevant investigation reports, in the first half of 2007 alone, the sales of "black mobile phones" in the domestic market reached 23.43 million, accounting for about 25% of the domestic market. In the same period, the sales of domestic mobile phones accounted for about 30% of the whole market, which means that the position of "black mobile phones" in the domestic market has been almost equal to that of domestic mobile phones. "Black mobile phones" generally evade taxes or copy the appearance and functions of popular mobile phones, so the price is much lower than that of domestic mobile phones in formal channels. It has the world-class functions and appearance of popular mobile phones, and its price is low, which is very attractive to a large number of consumers. Due to the ultra-low cost, the profit of "black mobile phone" is amazing, even as high as more than 200%. Consumers of "black mobile phones" mostly buy for appearance and function, but downplay the quality, while consumers who buy foreign mobile phones mainly trust their quality. Therefore, the "black mobile phone" has little impact on foreign mobile phones, but the impact on domestic mobile phones is fierce.
Second, the opportunities and advantages of domestic mobile phones
(1) Special plane customization (dual-mode dual-standby mobile phone)
Dual-mode dual-standby mobile phone has realized the function of supporting CDMA and GSM networks at the same time, and the two modes can be seamlessly connected, so that users can keep answering CDMA numbers and GSM numbers at any time. China Unicom officially launched the dual-mode card mobile phone service in 2005. However, due to technical limitations, the first generation of dual-mode mobile phones cannot use both GSM and CDMA networks at the same time, that is, only the number of one network can be online, and manual switching is needed when using the other network. 5438+065438+June 2006+10, China Unicom announced in Beijing that it would join hands with six mobile phone manufacturers, namely ZTE, Samsung, Daxian, Hisense, Yulong and CECT, to launch a variety of dual-mode dual-standby mobile phones with "world style". Once launched, the business income soared in just a few months (as shown in the following figure [②]).
Among them, at the end of 2005, Yulong Coolpad conquered CDMA/GSM dual standby technology for the first time and launched the world's first intelligent dual-network dual standby mobile phone Coolpad 728. Cool 728 enables two numbers to be online at the same time, and you can enjoy two different network services without switching, which solves all kinds of troubles brought by two mobile phones of high-end business people. The birth of Coolpad 728 is the result of China enterprises' in-depth understanding of consumer demand, and it is also a model of deep communication and sincere cooperation between mobile phone enterprises and operators. Since then, dual-mode dual standby has become the mainstream of China Unicom's high-end mobile phone strategy. Later, UT Starcom, Samsung, ZTE, Hisense, Daxian, CEC, LG and other enterprises also joined this team. Daxian took the lead in launching the C8000 dual-mode dual-standby mobile phone, which filled the gap in the "world wind" low-end price market and broke the original high-end price threshold of dual-mode dual-standby mobile phones; In April 2007, Daxian Communication and China Unicom jointly launched Daxian Mini Series "Daxian M5 and Daxian M6" for CDMA mobile phones. This is the first time that a "mini-series" mobile phone appears in CDMA mobile phone array, which is exquisite in appearance and suitable for fashion consumers. Daxian Mini-series mobile phones apply single-chip technology to CDMA mobile phones for the first time in China, making M5 and M6 the smallest CDMA mobile phones in the world by advanced technical means. This not only created a record, but also marked the perfection of domestic CDMA mobile phone technology. Due to the great advantages of Daxian Mini series in design and price, China Unicom placed a large number of orders for Daxian M5 and Daxian M6 at one time. The recently listed Daxian mini series is also very popular with consumers. This series of mobile phones is a call for young fashion consumers, which broadens the user base of CDMA and makes great contributions to the extension of the user base of China Unicom.
(B) the arrival of the 3G era
When the 3G storm intensified, on March 30th, 2005, the National Development and Reform Commission promulgated "Several Provisions on the Approval of Investment Projects of Mobile Communication Terminals". Yet we called and urged a thousand times before she started toward us's mobile phone license approval system has finally been officially launched, and a large number of domestic mobile phones have picked up the "birth certificate" of 3G mobile phones. Market segmentation will inevitably lead to scale effect in this field.
The White Paper on the Development of China Mobile Phone Industry in 2006 released by CCID data points out that the benefits of 3G will be the key factor to help the mobile phone industry upgrade again. The China Municipal Government has indicated that it will provide 3G services for the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games. TD-SCDMA is a 3G standard independently developed by China. Industry insiders predict that in 2007, the number of 3G users in China will reach 6180,000, the business income will reach 22 1 100 million yuan, and the terminal sales will reach 8.44 million units, which will provide a platform for Chinese and foreign communication manufacturers to compete fiercely.
2007 is the first year of 3G market in China, and new market rules will appear in the 3G era. With the construction of TD-SCDMA network, the main operator in China, more than half of mobile phone users in China will gradually switch to TD-SCDMA 3G users, which will generate huge demand for mobile phones and bring greater opportunities for domestic mobile phones.
(C) China's huge mobile phone user base
The latest statistics show that in 2006, China's mobile phone users grew rapidly, reaching 455 million by the end of June, an increase of 6 1 10,000 households over the end of last year. China's huge mobile phone users and rapid growth will inevitably become a strong advantage of domestic mobile phones, because in China, domestic mobile phones have a better understanding of China people's consumption concepts, aesthetic standards and their needs. For example, Baidu and Google, the two major search engines in the IT industry, won the position of the largest Chinese search engine in the world by knowing China people better than Google. Yes, in the high-tech industry, technology is always the forerunner, but when an electronic industry develops to a certain extent, the differences in technology have been greatly reduced or even erased. That is to say, in the high-tech industry, no enterprise can always be in a technological monopoly position, and technology will eventually be enjoyed and standardized. At that time, the advantages of localization will be fully reflected.
At present, China has formed the largest mobile phone industry group in the world. Take Shenzhen as an example. At present, Shenzhen produces domestic 1/3 mobile phones and global 1/8 mobile phones, forming the most complete mobile phone parts industry chain, modeling design chain and sales channels in China. In terms of collecting chips, key modules and main components, there will be no upstream key devices similar to those in 2004, which will help domestic manufacturers to give full play to their localization advantages and change the vicious circle of "introduction-imitation-mass sales" of domestic manufacturers, and domestic mobile phones will surely rise again.
Third, the strategic choice of the rise of domestic mobile phones
Strategy 1: "Surrounding the city from the countryside"
The market weakness of foreign brands lies in county towns and rural areas, while the consumption demand in rural big markets is gradually increasing, and the price leverage is obvious. At the same time, due to the fierce competition in the rural market, a large number of domestic mobile phone companies take the county and township markets as the starting point, and use their obvious price advantages and design advantages to cut into the market short, flat and fast and accumulate resources. When the original accumulation is completed, brand building is put on the agenda. At this time, these enterprises began to compete head-on with foreign brand mobile phones. At present, almost all well-known enterprises have experienced or experienced such a development track. Objectively speaking, it is a process of survival before development. Domestic mobile phone companies have stepped out of the original situation of competition with foreign brands with their pragmatic and rigorous practices.
For example, Lenovo summed up its successful experience in the PC manufacturing market as "trade, engineering and technology", reflecting the struggle process of a domestic brand gradually becoming familiar with products, close to customers, establishing brands and providing core competitiveness, thus moving from weak to mature. However, the rise of domestic mobile phone manufacturers is undergoing a transformation from complete machine import, semi-spare parts import (SKD) and full spare parts import (CKD) to independent research and development.
Strategy 2: Promote advertisements and grab terminals.
With the mobile phone becoming a popular consumer electronic product, its influence on product design, fashion concept, product positioning and consumer psychology research is becoming more and more prominent. Domestic brands have found the main direction suitable for China's national conditions, abandoned the controllable kernel technology and specialized in appearance and application software.
According to the characteristics of domestic consumers, on the one hand, domestic mobile phones promote different selling points of products, such as Amoi A8 series, TCL's 3288 and gem series, on the other hand, they compete to invite celebrities to join in the endorsement and create fashion themes, such as Panda invited Tony Leung Chiu Wai, Bird always used Wen Li, and so on. A survey report shows that the domestic mobile phone advertising expenditure is nearly 100 million. Advertising opens the way to stimulate demand, and channels make profits to promote sales. As a result, these products occupy shelf space overnight and become brand-name products in the industry.
What is even more powerful is the terminal interception of domestic mobile phones. When Bird successfully entered the mobile phone sales crocodile camp and broke Motorola's monopoly, the terminal operation mode was talked about by people. Bird has a "three axes" on the mobile phone, which is advertising, giving dealers zero risk, making them feel that they will not lose money with Bird, and finally it is almost crazy store promotion. Bird thinks that among the three axes, shop promotion is the most lethal, because it allows dealers to put other machines aside or simply put them in the warehouse to say that they are out of stock and put your goods in the most conspicuous position. Domestic brands should set up local, city and county offices, send in-store promoters, increase the display of multiple products and varieties, and provide consumers with more choices when the terminal intercepts; Focus on one or several unique products to form a competitive advantage; Cooperate with appropriate media advertising and terminal packaging to create a sales atmosphere.
Strategy 3: Innovation channels and manufacturers' alliance.
In the past mobile phone market, Motorola supported some dealers and established a hierarchical agency system from national level to regions and provinces. For example, Motorola's Yin Tian, Bee Star and China Post Putai are all first-class agents, which have formed a huge and stable sales channel through long-term accumulation. Cutting into domestic mobile phones at this time is tantamount to picking chestnuts from the fire, and it is impossible to lose everything. Some enterprises have created the mode of self-built sales channels and adopted a competitive strategy from production to terminal. The industry believes that this emerging channel helps to jump out of the terminal trap. Although the cost is high, it increases the autonomy of enterprises. Moreover, some brands also adopt the way of alliance with large chain stores, so that end customers such as Suning and Gome can both act as agents and retail, and their interests are tied; Even the practice of mode buyout and joint development mode has received unexpected results.
There is a popular saying in the mobile phone manufacturing industry: Europe and the United States make chips, integrated circuit boards and operating systems, Asia makes design, and domestic manufacturers make application software. The three are combined into molded products in China. The core technology is kernel and operating system, so European and American manufacturers are at the top of this value chain and domestic brands are at the bottom. We must realize that the domestic mobile phone corps is still in the initial stage of development. Under the surface of prosperity, domestic mobile phones hide a large inventory backlog, simply pursue market share and lack core competitiveness. Especially in the face of mobile phone predators like Motorola and Nokia. Therefore, the future of domestic mobile phones is not optimistic, and even some enterprises will face difficulties in survival.
Domestic mobile phones have gone through the stages from scratch and from peak to trough. When the 3G era comes, let's look forward to the next brilliant stage of domestic mobile phones!